Accessing the carbon footprint

Glenn Hansen, CEO of Reduce2.com, on calculating carbon footprint of corporate events. As I ponder lessons learned from conducting carbon footprint calculations, I am reminded of Mark Twain’s quote, “Figures don’t lie, but liars figure.” I believe that is too strong of a statement, but declaring “boundaries and scope” for greenhouse gas reporting allows one to avoid data collection that is too “uncomfortable”. Uncomfortable perhaps because of what it might reveal, but, more likely, uncomfortable to expend personal energy to collect the right data. This is the big challenge to carbon calculations. Event planners need to rely on their supply chain to provide specific information and for some it is too hard to do. It’s often convenient then to declare something “out of boundary”. Concerning the GHG Protocol for Scope 3 emissions reporting where there are 15 categories for reporting, most organisations are not equipped to collect all the data points required. The category with the greatest impact is Category 6 – business travel. How do people get from home to the departure airport, from the arrival airport to the venue and then trace those steps back home? If the organiser provides group ground transportation from the arrival airport to the venue, that part is easy to collect. But how many organisers are providing this? Home to the airport and back is a challenge. I have not seen any organiser with complete ground transportation data. Flights can be a challenge if the organising company does not require attendees to use a designated travel booking service where the data is centralised. To conduct the calculation to its fullest, data on legs of flight, class of service, and private vs. commercial aircraft use must all be collected. Yes, data can be estimated on short-, medium- and long-haul flights, but there is not one single solution for this. Different tools will provide different calculations. Next, throw in ‘radiative forcing’. Using this in your calculations could double or quadruple your emissions data. Radiative forcing is the production of contrails by jets at altitude. Contrails reflect up and down. The down effect prevents emissions from escaping thus warming the planet. But scientists cannot agree on precisely what the Radiative Forcing Index (RFI) should be. Therefore, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which offers a free tool to provide the carbon emissions of flight, tells us, “…Carbon Emissions Calculator is limited to the calculation of the CO2 amounts released into the atmosphere by the aircraft engines during a flight.”  In my opinion, we should consistently use RFI or not at all. Category 1: Purchased Goods and Services. This category includes GHG emissions from purchased goods (e.g., F&B, gifts) and services (e.g., venue). Some Banquet Event Orders (BEO) provide very specific information as to the type of food consumed. Vegetarian, fish, or vegan meals have a lower emissions factor compared to chicken or beef. With beverages, the unit of measurement is usually the issue. Is the wine reported as 750 ml bottles, or five ounces per glass (about 150 ml)? Granularity is needed, but it requires forethought by planners to ask for precise counts. Tons of freight and distance shipped can generally be provided for staging, AV and other materials. It often requires a follow-up question or two to learn of the mode of transport since each has its own emissions factor. The more developed venues can provide an energy consumption figure by hour by square foot, including an indication if renewable energy is part of the consumption. However, I have seen some data that includes meeting room space reported as in use for 24 hours because it was ‘on hold’, rather than the hours the room was occupied and heated or cooled. Hotels typically provide data on energy consumption per guest room night. The remaining challenge is waste. All too often facilities cannot provide weight of waste for a specific event by reuse, recycle, landfill or incineration. For transport, I envision organisers gathering this information as part of the registration process, probably in an app, and planners must ask for more granular information as part of their RFP-site selection process. Net Zero Carbon Events initiative is working on a solution, too. With a standard data input tool.